August 09, 2013

ITC Rules: Samsung Infringed Apple's Patents

According to the Wall
Street Journal, the U.S. International Trade Commission ordered a ban on the
import and sale of some mobile devices after finding they infringed on two
Apple patents. Report Udate Aug 10 - 10:50 AM PST

As part of its
findings, the ITC overturned an administrative judge's earlier finding that
Samsung infringed a potentially important Apple patent on phone design.

The ITC said Samsung
can continue to import and sell its infringing devices during a two-month
period in which the Obama administration can review Friday's order. The ITC
order is the latest setback to Samsung in its global patent battles with Apple.

The ruling applies to
two patents. The first is the so-called "Steve
Jobs patent", named after the company's founder and involves touch
screen technology. The other patent is related to the audio
socket on devices.

On Sunday the Obama
administration overturned
a ban on Apple products. In that report we noted the Korean Government's
reaction to Saturday's ruling. "The move was vehemently criticized by the
South Korean media as "protectionism." The Ministry of Trade,
Industry & Energy, said in a statement that they "express concerns
about the negative impact that such a decision would have on the protection of
patent rights."The ministry called
on the U.S. trade body and the Obama administration to make "fair and
reasonable decisions" as Samsung faces a decision on Friday as to whether
some of its phones and tablets infringed on Apple's patents and should be
banned from imports into the United States."

To be expected, the news of today's ruling is likely to further infuriate the Korean press. Whether the Obama
administration will intercede in this case as they did with Apple is unknown at this time.

Update August 10, 2013: Korea Times Quotes from a Samsung statement: "We are disappointed
that the USITC has issued an exclusion order based on two of Apple's patents. However,
Apple has been stopped from trying to use its overbroad design patents to
achieve a monopoly on rectangles and rounded corners." Read more
from the Korea
Times here.

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Comments

"Samsung will continue to launch many innovative products and we have already taken measures to ensure that all our of products will continue to be available in the United States." Haha they got jokes too "continue to launch many innovative products"